The Moonbeat Cafe
by Ala Green
Summary: Can anyone ever truely start over? Boba Fett/Orig. Char., the bounty hunter comes across and unexpectedly lucritive bounty in a small Cafe and the struggle begins. Who will prevail? Rated for adult themes and sexual situations.
1. The Cafe

The Café  
  
Fanfiction by Ala Green  
  
Timeframe: Takes place around 3 years after ROTJ  
  
Disclaimer: I own Nuura and the Moonbeat Café.I don't own Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, or any of the planets mentioned.  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: The Moonbeat Café  
  
Normally, he ate aboard his ship. Today his ship was docked far away from where he was, and the streets of Coruscant were crowded. It would take too long to go there, he reasoned, he would loose valuable time.  
  
So instead Boba Fett ducked into a small cafe called Moonbeat, ignoring the sudden silence of the crowded café. There was a line of people waiting to be seated that almost reached the door, but he ignored that too and looked around for the busy proprietress, Nuura Moonbeater.  
  
Two years ago, under similar circumstances he had decided to eat at the Moonbeat Café for the first time. Since he couldn't remove his helmet in a public place, he had stalked up to Nuura and demanded a private room to eat in.  
  
"I'm sorry." She'd said politely but firmly. "There's only one dining area, no exceptions."  
  
He remembered looking down at the short, slightly frazzled woman with her shoulder-length brown hair pinned messily up and her hands deep in the pockets of her stained apron.  
  
"Do you know who I am?" He'd growled impatiently, sure she would buckle eventually.  
  
"Yes sir, Master Fett." Her tone was deferential and unmoved. "I'm sorry we cannot accommodate you, I'm sure one of the other eateries on this street can. The Golden Sabre is known to have private dining areas-"  
  
He made an impatiently gesture with his hand that silenced her. "Private rooms are never intended to be private." He pointed swiftly to a security camera mounted above the doorway of her Café as an illustration.  
  
She put one hand on her hip, and he quickly noticed she had six fingers on that hand. The other one was still buried in the apron pocket, but he was willing to bet it was the same. Odd, she looked human enough, especially now that her mask of professional courtesy had been dropped.  
  
"Really, Master Fett, I'm not sure what I can." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes rested unseeingly on the breastplate of his armor as a thought occurred to her. "Unless.you would allow me to offer the use of my personal quarters to you." She shrugged. "That's the best I can do."  
  
That the best she could do was offer him a pleasant, quiet room with no cameras made a favorable impression on the bounty hunter, and he always ate there when he was in the city and it was convenient. Today, however, the Café was packed. Tourists, mostly, he surmised. They stared at him with frightened eyes, frozen with terror. Another thing Fett liked about Nuura was that she didn't capitalize on his patronage the way some places would have. He was famous, after all, and some people wouldn't have been above putting a sign in the window: "Boba Fett Eats Here".  
  
Nuura had no such pretensions, she told him he could use the back door if he pleased, but so far he had seen no reason to do so. Today he almost wished he had. "Nuura." He said, and the helmet's amplifier carried his voice and made it sound like command. There was a clatter of dishes, and Nuura pushed through the double doors from the kitchen, bringing a wave of food smells with her. She'd made a futile attempt to pull her hair back, but now almost all of it had straggled out to frame her tired face, and her apron looked dirtier then usual.  
  
"Oh." She said when she saw him, a line instantly appearing between her eyes. She was short-staffed, actually it was just her and the cook, her afternoon waitress was late, and there stood Boba Fett, demanding with his body language the personal attention she usually gave him.  
  
Long before the Moonbeat Café, Nuura had studied human behavior at a science university, her content area had been non-verbal communication. She had decided early on that Boba Fett was human, and she liked to think they'd developed some sort of rapport from all the times she'd respected his privacy and waited on him in her own dining room. Now she hoped she was right, she would have to play on his good graces today.  
  
"Master Fett." She set down the plates she'd been carrying at the appropriate table, taking a second to smile at her customers. "My noon waitress should be here any minute, could you." She waved at a table with one six-fingered hand. "Could you find out what they want?" She hustled over behind the counter as someone paid their tab and she smiled and thanked them.  
  
Boba Fett wavered, surprised and uncertain. He was almost positive the frumpy little woman had just asked him to wait on tables, and then turned away as if she knew he would. Of course, the sooner the tourists were taken care of, the sooner he would get his lunch in the quiet dining room with blue walls. He whirled to the table she indicated, inhabited by a balding human man and an older woman with a painful amount of make-up on.  
  
"What do you want?" He growled.  
  
The man broke down completely under his helmet's glare. "To live!" He blurted out. "I just want to live." With that he started blubbering, falling on his knees and begging Fett not to take him to Garnosh, whoever that was.  
  
Boba Fett glared scornfully down at the guilty patron, and he heard Nuura say in a weary tone "Never mind. That isn't going to work." Then her noon waitress rushed in, babbling something about her boyfriend, and Nuura motioned for Fett to follow her to the back. Through the kitchen was Nuura's home, a simple set of rooms that she decorated tastefully, reflecting a serene air that was a relief after the bustling café.  
  
The dining room was painted sky blue, the high alley windows covered with neat white curtains and the walls adorned with pictures of open fields, quiet streams and patches of wild flowers. "I've lived in this city my whole life." She'd once told him. "But I think I'm a country person at heart."  
  
They went through the familiar ceremony of sitting at the shiny wood table as she wrote down his order. He noticed that she sat down whenever possible, the effect of having a job that kept her on her feet all day.  
  
"Why all the people?" He asked.  
  
"Tour shuttles. Come through every season and every eatery in town is packed. Some of them come all the way from the outer rim to see the capital." She smiled quickly at him. "Some of them have guilty consciousness too."  
  
That inspired him to ask something he'd wondered about ever since he'd met Nuura. "You aren't afraid of me."  
  
"Of course not." She stood, tucking her mini datapad into her apron pocket. "I haven't done anything wrong."  
  
~~~~~~  
  
A light tap on the door interrupted his meal, and his hand hovered near his helmet. "Nuura?"  
  
"Yes, it's me. I'll refill your drink now, if that's ok."  
  
Boba donned his helmet quickly. "Come in."  
  
"How is everything?" She inquired politely as she expertly topped off his drink with the contents of a large pitcher. "Is the Horgantot to your liking?"  
  
"It's fine."  
  
"Good." As she leaned further over to steady the pitcher, a small leather sachet on a cord slid out of the open neck of her tunic. The bounty hunter spied it instantly, from his vantage point the slender leather cord that hung the pouch around Nuura's neck was dangling right in front of his helmeted head. A charm or amulet of some kind?  
  
He reached up and pinched the leather cord between his gloved fingers. Nuura jerked slightly, a slight pink blush on her cheeks betraying her discomfort. "Something wrong?" She asked, her voice still calm and courteous as ever, despite being held in an awkward position bent over the table. Boba didn't think anything ever really fazed Nuura.  
  
"What's this?" The enhanced sensors in his helmet were picking up a somewhat-familiar scent.but he couldn't identify it.  
  
"Just a little memento from a bygone day." Her tone was flippant. "Can I straighten up now?"  
  
He barely heard her, he was so intent on trying to recognize the subtle smell. He came quickly out of his reverie when she placed her fingers over his on the cord, gently working the cord from his grasp. "Let go, please."  
  
There was decided edge on her voice. He dropped his hand and picked up his fork again. "You may go."  
  
For a split second, Nuura looked as if she would make a sharp retort, then she composed herself and smiled, polite as ever. "As you wish." She replied, hefting the pitcher and bustling out the door. Boba stared after her for a minute, then removed his helmet and continued to eat. What was that smell. He reviewed what he knew about Nuura. She was by all accounts single, she never made mention of any family or religion. She was tied to her job, her messy hair and wrinkled clothes made it painfully clear that she ate drank and slept at the Moonbeat Café. What memories would she have.what mementos? Suddenly, she interested him. His hunter's instinct was telling him there was more to Nuura Moonbeater then met the eye.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
In the kitchen, Nuura found herself unsettled by her latest encounter with the bounty hunter. She waited on him on a semi-regular basis, but when he took hold of her sachet, her body had gone hot with the unexpected invasion of her personal space, then cold with fear and dread. Did he know? "What's this?" He'd said, but DID he know? Was he somehow able to smell the nearly odorless mixture? She fingered the sachet as if she would remove it, licking her dry lips.  
  
"Hey Nuura." The cook said. "You all right?"  
  
"Yes." She forced herself to turn and smile brightly. "Of course. Just tired." The cook nodded. "Well, our last two customers are leaving, so give Mr. Secretive" -she jerked her head toward the door that separated Boba Fett from the kitchen- "his check and then we can all call it a day."  
  
Nuura looked at the wall crono and was glad to see it was nearly closing time. "Right." She agreed. "That's just what I'll do." Without thinking, without knocking, she barged through the door into her dining room.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Boba Fett tensed when he saw the door swinging open, and in the split second he had he chose his gun rather then his helmet. Nuura walked through the door and then blanched as she realized what she had done. Instantly she averted her eyes to the floor, unable to stop the picture from branding itself in her memory. The man who's surprise and anger she could feel in every fiber of her body was indeed human. He had light brown skin and short black hair, and an sinister looking scar running dangerously near his hard brown eyes. A meager black goatee gave him a sharp, merciless look that was just as intimidating as his helmet. He was also aiming his blaster rifle at her, and her heart slammed into her chest, half expecting each heartbeat to be her last.  
  
He was seething, she could feel it emulating from him. "Well?" He demanded. "You'd better have as good reason for invading my privacy."  
  
"I forgot." She admitted, her eyes still on the floor. "I was in a hurry, and I wasn't thinking."  
  
"This lapse could be your demise." He said coldly, and without his helmet's amplifier Nuura was surprised to note that his voice had a slight outer rim accent.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry won't protect you if anyone learns you've seen my face."  
  
"They won't." She vowed. "May I be given over to my enemies if I do."  
  
"What enemies?"  
  
There was a slight pause. "It's just an expression, Master Fett."  
  
He made a noise that sounded like a cross between a sigh and a grunt. "Look up, Nuura."  
  
She kept her eyes trained to the ground. "At you?" She clarified.  
  
"Yes."  
  
She slowly raised her eyes. He watched her face carefully, masking his curiosity. No one had seen his face in a very, very long time, especially not a woman. To his disappointment, Nuura's face betrayed as little as his own. Her tired green eyes regarded him calmly, so calmly that it reminded him of something, and his eyes went to the sachet around her neck.  
  
Nuura's self-control was admirable. "Your check." She said, laying her datapad on the table.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Boba Fett intended to leave the city that night, but a small amount of research yielded enough information to convince him to stay. He was almost certain he know knew the contents of Nuura's sachet, but a closer examination was in order. Nuura was not the simple café owner she seemed to be. 


	2. Why You Should Never Lie

Chapter 2: Why You Should Never Lie to Bounty Hunters  
  
AN: There's a short tribute to another great movie in this chapter.if you spot it, you're a fanatic like me. (  
  
All night long, Nuura's sleep was troubled by images from her past. She clutched the pouch around her neck and moaned, trying to escape the awful slideshow of "bygone days". At the first sign of daylight she rose and stared at her image in the mirror with a groan. "Nuura, old girl, you're a regular witch. Look at those dark circles under your eyes!" She smiled sadly at her own nonsense and walked into the fresher, stripping off her night shift as she went. Carefully she removed the sachet from around her neck, bracing herself for the old feelings of temptation to leave it off forever.  
  
Move on.move on. She hung it on a hook and stepped into her shower, the water all ready set to her preference. It was just another day at the Moonbeat Café.  
  
Suddenly the shower door was ripped back, and an armored man with a blaster filled the entrance. Nuura was so stunned she forgot all modesty and gaped at the bounty hunter who cradled his weapon in one hand and her sachet grasped tightly in the other.  
  
"What-" She realized in a rush that she was standing naked in the shower, and Boba Fett was blocking her way out, his voice harsh beneath his helmet.  
  
"You lied to me, Nuura."  
  
In some semblance of sanity she shut off the water and shivered in the suddenly cold air as neither she nor the bounty hunter moved. Then he abruptly stepped back, motioning with his gun. "Get out."  
  
Nuura stepped into the main area of the fresher, her cheeks flushed with helpless embarrassment. The cold metal of the blaster touched her naked back as Fett pushed her into bedroom and yanked a sheet off the bed, thrusting it at her. "Cover yourself, and follow me. No noise."  
  
Hastily Nuura wrapped the sheet around herself and obeyed, eyes wide with trepidation. "Why are you taking my sachet with you?" She whispered, fearing the answer.  
  
He turned swiftly at her, the fist that her pouch was clutched in raised as if he would hit her. Nuura flinched, her jaw tight and her body tensed for an attack.  
  
"I said no noise." He reminded her, lowering his fist.  
  
There was a speeder waiting for them outside, a fact which Nuura was very thankful for. Being dragged through the streets of Coruscant in a sheet was hardly good PR for the Café. Boba Fett was tense in the driver's seat beside her, moving fluidly past the morning traffic, breaking patterns to cut across lanes. Nuura was concentrating too hard to worry about their relative safety, however.  
  
What does he know?  
  
She sat in silent compliance until he landed at a docking bay and used his blaster to prod her up the ramp into his ship, Slave I . Once the door sealed behind them she turned to him, one six-fingered hand holding the sheet up and the other she placed firmly on her hip.  
  
"What's this all about, Boba Fett? I hope you have a good explanation for this, and it better not have anything to do with the fact that you're a man."  
  
He ignored her suggestive remark, tugging his helmet off his head. His eyes were dark and hard as they speared her with a single look. "You lied to me. Twice."  
  
"You dragged me naked all the way down here to tell me that???"  
  
Boba Fett laid his blaster and helmet aside, obviously feeling that he didn't need them around her. The sachet, however, he cradled in his gloved hand. "The first time you lied to me," He went on as if she hadn't spoken. "You said you'd lived your whole life in Coruscant, when in fact, you've lived in a lot of places. The second time you lied to me, you told me that you weren't afraid of me.because you'd done nothing wrong." He looked at her mockingly, fingering the pouch. "Or maybe that makes three lies."  
  
Nuura looked very, very afraid of him now, she was pale as a moon of Yeago. Her eyes went longingly to the pouch. "Please, can I have that back? I n-need it."  
  
"I might need it more." He replied. "To protect myself from you." He eyed her coldly. "Let's see, a live Ysalamiri can affect people up to 50 meters away, but what's the range on the dried blood and bones of one?"  
  
"Only a few meters."  
  
"That will have to be enough." Boba placed the pouch around his own neck and removed a holocube from his pocket. "The only person who might need an amulet of Ysalamiri is someone who's trying to ward off a Jedi or a Sith, since the Ysalamiri creates a bubble in the force that renders force-users harmless." He paused just long enough to give Nuura hope, then ruthlessly moved on. "Unless the person who's wearing it is a force-user themselves and trying to hide it from other force-users. In this reign of the 'New Republic', why would someone hide their Jedi ability? They wouldn't.unless they were a Sith."  
  
He pressed the button on the holocube and an imposing, life-sized image came to life. The image was of a young woman, with sleek brown hair down to her shoulders and a square necked metallic black gown. Most arresting was the woman's face, it was beautiful and passionate, but cold and proud.  
  
"Do you recognize this woman, Nuura?" Nuura recoiled from the image as it had the power to strike her dead.  
  
"Why?" She hissed, her fear giving way to a cold fury. "Why are you doing this?"  
  
"You're not Nuura Moonbeater, your name is Aruun.and you're a Sith Witch."  
  
As the last syllable of his accusation died in the air around them, Nuura saw her worst fears realized. Stay calm. Her vision seemed to spin in dizzying circles and she concentrated on breathing, her eyes downcast to hide her struggles from Boba Fett.  
  
"I-I'm not a witch." She protested feebly. "Not anymore." Her voice was so soft, so weak, that when she struck out, it took him by surprise. The open palm of her hand swiped the active holocube from his grasp, and she dove towards it, using her other arm to push him away and propel her towards her goal.  
  
He swiftly grabbed her wrist, jerking her up, but her other hand now possessed the cube, and she purposely fell, putting all her weight into it. She smashed the cube viciously into the floor, obliterating the image it contained.  
  
Boba was quickly gaining control of her, he twisted the arm he held and forced her against the wall, grasping her other wrist and making her release the shattered cube. The sheet was slipping on her struggling body, and she stopped fighting him, panting from spent adrenaline. He kept her hands pinned, but her eyes sought his with desperate passion. "I'm not that woman any longer. You have to believe me. You have to let me go."  
  
"You shouldn't have lied to me." He replied, his voice getting tired from so much use.  
  
"That's not me." She insisted. "I'm not Aruun any longer, I'm just Nuura!"  
  
He remained unmoved and she wilted in his grasp, wet hair clinging to her flushed cheeks and her face contorted as if in pain. "What will you do with me?"  
  
"There are those who would pay willingly for any Sith." He removed a pair of force-resistant restraints from one of his pockets and snapped one on her right hand. Nuura seemed to have worn herself out, she made no protest except to reach up with her manacled right hand and touch the pouch resting against the breastplate of his armor. "I thought I could hide from everyone with lies and Jedi mind tricks."  
  
"Give me your other hand."  
  
Nuura wound all six fingers of her right hand around the pouch of Ysalamiri and pulled steadily, her eyes locking into Boba's. Inexplicitly he let her pull his head down to hers. When their faces were centimeters apart, Nuura tipped her chin up and their mouths met in a aggressive kiss, tongues battling for dominance. Her hands caressed the back of his neck, sliding down over his shoulders and back and then up into his hair, sliding the leather cord with them.  
  
She almost had it over his head, in fact she was mere fractions of a second away from it when he broke away, his eyes dark but also amused. Nuura had the infuriating sense that he'd known what she was doing all along and had simply gone along with it for his own enjoyment.  
  
"Save your tricks, Lady Aruun." He firmly grasped her other wrist and then she was securely handcuffed.  
  
"Please call me Nuura." The former Sith Witch said resignedly. "Formality seems a little obtuse when I'm naked."  
  
"I have clothes for you." Boba Fett informed her, standing easily to his feet and lifting her passive form by the arms off the floor. "Clothes." His eyes swept over her hastily covered body. ".More fitting for a witch."  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Hours later the bounty hunter set the ship on auto-pilot and made his way back to his force-resistant cell, leaving the pouch of Ysalamiri behind. Nuura was still hugging the durasteal pole he'd manacled her to, and she was naked, the only thing she wore was a stubborn expression. Earlier, when he'd left her in the cell he'd exchanged the force-resistant handcuffs for regular ones, then he'd laid out the clothing he expected her to wear, stripped the sheet from her body and left.  
  
His brows lifted slightly as he looked at her now, but otherwise his face showed no emotion. "You're out of the range of the Ysalamiri. Why didn't you free yourself and get dressed?"  
  
Nuura's spoke through clenched teeth. "If you're through punishing me for lying to you, please unshackle me. I'll get dressed."  
  
"Why didn't you free yourself?"  
  
"I can't free myself, I can barely find my shoes from day to day. Please release me, I'll wear...that thing." She pointed at the long black dress he'd draped through the bars. It was made from an expensive black fabric that had metallic strands woven through it.  
  
Boba Fett shrugged and removed the key from one of his pockets, releasing her wrists from the pole. "I thought all Sith wore black."  
  
"My favorite color is blue." Nuura insisted stubbornly, her cheeks a dull red as she rose, keeping the pole between them. "Could you leave while I dress?"  
  
"Hardly matters at this point." Fett observed dryly, but he turned and exited the cell, locking the door behind him. "I'll be back in a few minutes, and I expect to see you wearing clothes."  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Nuura could actually see her reflection in the shiny pole and it made her want to weep. The dress fit perfectly, hugged her in all the right places. The shimmering black material fell smoothly to the tops of her bare feet, the only decoration on it was the diamond shaped cutout above her breasts. She looked exactly like Aruun, the day she had come calling on Lord Vader.  
  
Nuura touched her hair, it hung limply to her shoulders. If only she had a clip to put her hair up, then she would feel more like Nuura Moonbeater, the no-nonsense café owner. She didn't look exactly like Aruun, she told herself. Aruun had worn black kohl around her eyes and sparkling diamonds and flawless silver and smooth onyxes on all six fingers of both hands. Darth Vader had found her enchanting, the Emperor had found her promising. She closed her eyes against the memories, footsteps outside of her cell bringing her back to the present.  
  
Boba Fett studied her through the bars of the cell, his sharp brown eyes taking in every detail. Nuura found herself holding her breath, hoping he wouldn't find any flaw in her appearance, or maybe get the bright idea of forcing her to wear make-up or jewelry. Whoever Fett was taking her to obviously wanted a Sith Witch who looked like a Sith Witch.  
  
He nodded perfunctorily. "Good."  
  
Nuura sought his eyes. "I miss my apron."  
  
"Silence."  
  
Her jaw tightened. "This is the thanks I get for letting you eat in my dining room?"  
  
"The woman who let me eat in her dining room didn't exist." He told her flatly. "But it's only my regard for her, vapor that she was, that keeps me from killing you and collecting the bounty for a Sith head."  
  
"Then you're taking me to Skywalker after all."  
  
"Why wouldn't I?" He smiled, not a nice smile, but a mocking one.  
  
"You hate Jedi."  
  
His smile froze, and he withdrew from the bars, his eyes becoming ice. "Who told you that?"  
  
"It was generally known in certain circles." Nuura tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled bitterly. "After all, you did work for Vader."  
  
"I work for a lot of people."  
  
"Still." She shrugged. "You hate them."  
  
"Don't you?"  
  
Her eyes met his soberly. "I fear them."  
  
"It's not the same thing."  
  
"It's all the same thing. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate." She trailed off, her eyes turned pleading. "Please let me go, Fett, I beg you."  
  
His expression turned to stone. "Why should I? I can make a lot of money off you." "I'll give you anything you want, anything Nuura Moonbeater can give you. I'll even give you Moonbeat Café-"  
  
"What would I want with a Café?" The idea obviously amused him.  
  
"What about me?" She asked quietly, a strength in her voice born of desperation. "Would you want me?"  
  
Boba studied her silently for a few agonizing moments. "You can't be serious." "I am serious. I'll do anything.please, let me go home and be Nuura." She held her breath as he seemed to consider this, his stony features softening somewhat. He was human after all, she considered. He had to have some shred of fallibility in him.  
  
Then he looked up at her swiftly, a tight smile on his face. "No."  
  
She felt as if she'd been sucker punched, and she realized with dismay that she was also embarrassed and angry. "Why not?" She demanded, wanting the truth, even if it hurt. The bounty hunter shrugged, his eyes cold. "You're worth more to me as hard merchandise."  
  
TBC--- 


	3. Interlude

Chapter 3: Interlude  
  
A special thanks to readers who reviewed. Here we go again.  
  
Nuura was a model prisoner, no escape efforts, no blubbering or fits of temper. This made Boba Fett very suspicious, but then Nuura positively radiated the aura of calmness force users were famous for. It was almost as if she was afraid of feeling anything. She kept herself so tightly contained, refusing to rely on her powers in any way, that Boba felt at ease descending into the holding cages without the Ysalamiri.but he never did.  
  
"You won't take me to Skywalker." She announced when he entered with her rationed dinner. "You can't."  
  
"Why can't I?" He asked patiently, sliding the tray through the slot.  
  
"I've seen your face." Nuura was sitting on the floor of the cell holding her knees, staring at the opposite wall. "You can't afford to turn me loose anywhere. I know too much."  
  
"If that was true, why wouldn't I just kill you?"  
  
"I don't know, why don't you?"  
  
He paused, looming over her on the other side of the bars. "Is that what you want? Death?"  
  
A ghost of smile flickered across her weary face. "Rather then face my past? Rather then face what I've done, who I was?" She finally raised her eyes and looked at him. "Death is preferable to some fates."  
  
"You can't escape the past."  
  
"Can't you? I did a pretty good job of it until you came along." Nuura stood slowly, bracing herself on the wall with one hand. Her eyes went to the ever-present pouch around his neck, and she moved towards him steadily. "Is there nothing I can say or do to entice you to take me home?"  
  
"You'd rather live a lie."  
  
Her guard dropped for a second and her green eyes flashed anger. "Nuura is true..from a certain point of view. I certainly never felt any pangs of guilt about living a wholesome life, working my fingers to the bone and serving every sentient who walked in my door." She gripped the bars that separated them, her knuckles white. "Do you know what evil is, Fett? Evil is a woman who walks into a room and sees her lover hard at work, selecting planets for the Empire to colonize. Her lover turns and says 'here's this pretty little planet with a tribe of primitive life-forms on it, what should we do with the inhabitants?', and the woman laughs lightly and says 'round them up and send them to the spice mines, that planet would make a lovely retreat for the two of us.'."  
  
Boba Fett listened to all this, wondering if the rumors that Aruun had had a liaison with Darth Vader were true and wondering I she'd just admitted to it. Even with the Ysalamiri between them, Nuura could guess at his thoughts.  
  
"That's evil, Fett." She whispered harshly, pressing her forehead to the bars.  
  
Her pain was palpable, it hung in the air like an anguished cry. Boba Fett stayed where he was, only inches from her, only the bars and the Ysalamiri between them. He had some sense of wanting to offer her some human comfort, to somehow ease her suffering.  
  
Carefully he reached through the bars and cupped the back of her head, bringing her head up. She watched him with fearless eyes as he moved closer, anticipating his move, but doing nothing to prevent it.  
  
They kissed through the bars, the cold durasteele in sharp contrast to warm skin. He dropped his hands to her hips and pulled her body against the bars, closer to his own. The kiss ended by mutual agreement, both parties stepped back at the same time. Nuura's expression said quite plainly that she was willing to accept what had just happened without question.  
  
"You won't reveal to anyone that you've seen my face." He said, breaking the silence. "I'm no good to you dead."  
  
"You're not much good to me alive either." She returned, her eyes narrowed.  
  
"That may change." The bounty hunter replied, then turned and left the cell area.  
  
  
  
Luke Skywalker maintained a calm and professional air as he watched Slave I land a few yards away. It was credited to them both how Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker ignored the fact that they had once fought it out on Jabba's sail barge, it was as if that day had never happened. And as long as Han Solo didn't find out that Luke had. contracted the famous bounty hunter to bring him possibly the last remaining Sith, it would stay that way.  
  
Boba Fett exited the ship, a short dark haired woman in a black dress following him. Luke watched her as she came closer, her eyes were on the ground, and her wrists bound in front of her. She looked striking and beautiful in the elegant black gown, her hair hanging freely around her face. Her neck and wrists were bare, and so were her feet, and somehow it only accented her exquisiteness.  
  
Boba Fett nodded his head to Luke, and Luke did the same. "This is her." The bounty hunter said shortly.  
  
Luke stepped forward and peered into the woman's downcast face. He could sense no presence of the force in her. "Darth Aruun?"  
  
"My name," She said, lifting her face and giving him a good look into her sharp green eyes. "is Nuura."  
  
Luke brushed her mind, but he could sense nothing. No presence in the force, no powerful dark feelers trying to pry into his brain. Could Boba Fett have been mistaken?  
  
Thinking the force-resistant manacles could be hindering her, he had Boba Fett remove them. But he still felt nothing.  
  
"I sense nothing." He told the bounty hunter.  
  
Boba was surprised at first, then looked at Nuura's clenched fists and tense shoulders and understood what was happening. "Stop it." He hissed at her, the sound harsh through his helmet. "Stop blocking him."  
  
She gave him a rebellious look, and her hands stayed knotted at her sides. She was using her power at last.and she using it well, Skywalker's puzzled face said as much. Boba Fett turned away from her, then spun back around and fired two blaster bolts at her less then two meters away.  
  
In a movement so smooth and quick it had to be super-instinctive, Nuura held up the bare palm of her hand.and blocked both bolts.  
  
An unearthly silence fell over the landing platform. Nuura gasped, half from realization, half from spent adrenaline. Her shields dropped and her powerful presence was revealed to Luke, who actually shrank back, repulsed by the dark side. Boba Fett stepped forward and snapped the force-resistant cuffs on her again. Her face was drawn and pale, she made no protest.  
  
"Well?" He said to Skywalker.  
  
Luke paid him quickly, then motioned some guards forward. "Take her away."  
  
The End? Hardly. 


	4. The Tables Turning, Turning

Boba Fett settled back into the cockpit of Slave I and warmed up the engines. As soon as he was cleared to leave the landing platform, he headed out into the star specked space. Less then four minutes after leaving the platform, he felt the cold metal of a blaster pressed against his neck, just under the rim of his helmet.  
  
"I'm baaack." Said a breathy female voice. It was only Boba's iron control that kept him from starting, and he made no sudden movements, furiously wondering how this had happened. The blaster remained steady while a woman's arm encircled his neck and removed his helmet. It wasn't just the blaster that kept him still, the entire cockpit was filled with a powerful, overwhelming presence. Lady Aruun moved soundlessly into his peripheral vision, smiling like a satisfied cat.  
  
"Put it on autopilot, Fett. We're going into the back and you're going to remove that armor for me, then you're going to take me home." With the last syllable uttered, he glimpsed a hint of Nuura's longing. It was Nuura's strength that was driving Lady Aruun now, or was it Lady Aruun's strength in Nuura?  
  
"How did you escape?" He carefully put the ship on autopilot, keeping his hands in plain sight. He had to stay calm, and most of all, he had to keep her powerful presence out of his mind.  
  
"Stand up, but don't try anything funny." She warned him. "I'll know."  
  
How was she able to know? He had always been able to hide his thoughts for Darth Vader, but Vader had never seen his face. He suddenly understood that it was important to Aruun's power that she could see his face. Any attempt to undermine that power, and she'd shoot him, he had no doubt she would. The Ysalamiri was in a bin in the back of the ship, he had little hope of getting it.  
  
Compliance was his best defense. For now.  
  
After relieving him of his weapons and armor, Aruun instructed him back to the cockpit. "Time to make the return journey." She said quietly. "Ironic, isn't it?" He didn't reply, but she smiled anyway. "I know you're not happy with me right now."  
  
He stared stonily ahead and tried to construct a mental wall to block her out.  
  
"Don't do that." She said softly. "You'll only make yourself tired." In a rueful voice that sounded more like Nuura she added: "You awoke the sleeping dragon, Fett."  
  
They landed in Coruscant at 0400 hours. The city was just beginning to waken, and very few sentients wandered the streets.  
  
I'll take a shuttle from here." Aruun told him, her voice quick with impatience. She stood in the open doorway of Slave I, the dawn's faint light reflected in all the smog around her. For a second she looked tired and drawn in the muted light, but the second passed and the infatigable Aruun remained, the blaster still aimed dead at him.  
  
"Thanks so much for the ride.' She said airly, then raised her weapon slightly. "Do you still think you're no good to me dead? How do I know you won't come after me again?"  
  
Boba Fett considered this. "You don't."  
  
"So I should shoot you now."  
  
"If you can."  
  
Aruun lowered her weapon slightly, her eyes narrowed. "'If I can'? You wanted me to escape."  
  
He didn't answer.  
  
"And yet you still managed to get paid.very clever Fett. If that's true, I should be able to toss this blaster and walk away."  
  
There was a tense silence, betraying the mental battle between them. Aruun studied his face carefully, her eyes wide but unseeing. Boba Fett was as still as stone, his jaw clenched tight. Aruun brushed his mind, but could only sense his fierce concentration. Was he hiding something? She couldn't sense a shadow of deceit, she couldn't sense anything at all.  
  
How could he do that?  
  
Aruun tilted her head to one side and broke the silence. "Stalemate, Boba Fett. You can't move and I can't checkmate you. I resign." She began to back away, her blaster still steady. Boba smiled once, tightly at her, then turned his back and went back into his ship. The battle was over.  
  
  
  
1 Year Later  
  
  
  
It was tourist season again and the Moonbeat Café was hopping. Nuura was busily adding up a customer's bill and keeping an eye on her new waitress when she felt someone breathing on her neck. Startled, she stepped quickly to one side and turned, expecting to see a rude alien tourist or maybe the city cop that was always coming around to hit on her. Instead she looked into a pair of cold dark eyes and felt a cold shiver run all the way down her spine. It took her a few long seconds to comprehend what she was seeing.  
  
He was here. In her Café. Without his armor and helmet.  
  
There had been no hush when he walked in the door, no one even noticed him. He had one the best disguise possible, his own face. Nuura became aware that she was staring and snapped out of it, her professional poise coming to her rescue. "Can I help you sir?"  
  
He had been watching her reaction closely, and now he smiled slightly. "Hello, Nuura."  
  
Her stomach fluttered in spite of her resolve. "What can I get for you?"  
  
He jerked his head toward the kitchen door, and she meekly led him through the double swinging doors, past the kitchen, into her dining room. She had new curtains with green leaves on them, and she saw that he noticed. He noticed everything.  
  
Standing near her, his fingers brushed her neck, and dipped below the modest neckline of her tunic, bringing up a slender chain with a little metal ball on the end. He recognized the scent immediately. "Classy."  
  
"Thank you." She stood stock still for his inspection. hair messily pulled back, six-fingered hands deep in the pockets of her apron.  
  
"So you're Nuura again."  
  
"Don't think that Nuura can't fight you." She replied quietly.  
  
He nodded at that. "I'm not here on business."  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"To get something to eat."  
  
Nuura shook her head, and turned with a rueful smile toward the kitchen. "You'll like the special. I'll get-"  
  
Quick as lightening he grabbed her wrist, holding it lightly. "No, not that." He paused for a few beats, then pushed on. "I was hoping.you might go.I mean, you might agree to have dinner with me."  
  
  
  
The End  
  
(Author's Note: Finally completed! Sorry it took so long, real life gets in the way sometimes. ( Thanks to all of you who took the time to read and review. BTW, the tribute to another move that was in Chapter 2 was Gone With the Wind, in case you didn't figure it out. I was thinking of the jail scene where Scarlett offers mortgage on Tara and then her own body to Rhett. Good movie.) 


End file.
